Newtown Car Wash—

Oil-Laden Wastewater Spillage Investigated

By Andrew Gorosko

Town and state environmental officials are continuing their investigation of what they characterize as an intentional spillage of oil-laden wastewater at Newtown Car Wash on April 2, which resulted in contaminants polluting that property.

Rob Sibley, town deputy director of planning and land use, said April 9 that the Inland Wetlands Commission has scheduled a show-cause hearing for April 22, at which car wash owner George O. Visnyei would have an opportunity to explain the circumstances of the spillage at the car wash. The town has issued a cease-and-desist order for the pollution violation.

The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) also is investigating the incident.

Attempts to reach Mr Visnyei for comment on the situation were unsuccessful. Robert Boyhen, the car wash’s manager, declined comment on the matter, referring questions to Mr Visnyei.

“The property owner is cooperating with all of the agencies” involved in investigating the problem, Mr Sibley said.

“They [car wash] haven’t disputed this. Obviously, they were caught red-handed,” Mr Sibley said.

Following the spillage, which was reported late on the morning on April 2, workers from Moran Environmental Recovery conducted cleanup operations at the car wash at 1 Simm Lane. The dead-end street extends eastward from South Main Street.

Newtown Hook & Ladder firefighters responded to the car wash, as did police.

According to a police report on the incident filed by Officer John McCluskey, “There was a grassy area next to the car wash parking lot in which there were pools of an oily substance….I spoke with the manager of the car wash, Robert Boyhen, and obtained a written statement. Boyhen stated that he had been pumping out an underground recycled-water tank, in an effort to make repairs in the tank.”

Ann Astarita, the town’s wetlands enforcement officer, also went to the car wash.

In a report on the incident, she writes that she observed a pump being used to pump oil and water out from a manhole onto a grassy area and into a swale on the east side of the property. Ms Astarita told a car wash worker to call firefighters and have them bring absorbent materials to control the spillage.

Ms Astarita found a second wastewater discharge occurring on the northern end of the site in which a bluish-gray liquid was being pumped out of a holding tank and into a stormwater catch basin.

Mr Sibley said that apparently between 1,000 and 4,000 gallons of wastewater was intentionally discharged at the car wash. One of the discharges was oil-laden water and the other was soapy in nature, he said.

A chemical sheen was apparent on a brook that leads away from the car wash, he said, adding that the sheen extended into a pond, but it is unclear how much of the contaminants reached that pond.

Firefighters placed absorbent booms across the stream to trap contaminants floating on the water.

Ms Astarita noted that the oil-laden discharge appeared to remain on the grassy area and a nearby swale at the car wash. The contaminants found in the stream were bluish-gray.

Following the spillage, the environmental workers removed about 120 cubic yards of contaminated soil from the grassy area at the car wash, and also removed about 3,000 gallons of liquid, according to a statement from the DEP. The excavated soil will be incinerated to cleanse it.

The excavated area was covered with absorbent hay. Sediment fencing was installed. Hay bales were positioned. Absorbent pads were put on the site.

Mr Sibley said the town is investigating whether the spillage that occurred at the car wash on April 2 was the first time that such activity had occurred there.

Ken LeClerc, a DEP emergency response coordinator for spills, said that the wastewater discharged at the site apparently holds oils, soaps, waxes, and dirt.

The DEP is having samples of the contaminants found at the spill chemically analyzed. Those test results are due next week.

The car wash owner has agreed to clean out a holding tank from which wastewater was discharged and ensure that the car wash’s waste handling system is working properly, according to the DEP.

Both the DEP and the town might assess financial penalties against the car wash for the spillage.

The town’s jurisdiction concerns any damage caused to wetlands and watercourses off the premises that was caused by the spillage, Mr Sibley said. Penalties levied by the town might amount to as much as a $7,500, plus the cleanup expenses for those wetlands and watercourses.

There are no wetlands on the car wash property, Mr Sibley said.

In such situations, the costs of cleaning up the site itself are covered by the property owner. It was unclear how much the overall environmental cleanup might cost.

“It’s very early in the investigation, “ Mr Sibley said.